Operations are underway in the town, with Peshmerga forces clearing Sinjar from ISIL militants and the landmines the terrorist group had left behind.

“Just like regions ISIL retreated previously, Sinjar was found full of landmines,” Ali Hussein, a Peshmerga official, told Press TV.

Hussein added that the Kurdish forces are struggling to cut off “ISIL’s routes into Mosul and Syria through Sinjar to ensure that counterattacks cannot be launched against us.”

Breaking Sinjar’s siege has given a huge strategic victory to both the Iraqi Kurds and the central government in Baghdad, as the Peshmerga forces could cut the highway from Syria to the northern Iraqi city of Mosul, a vital supply line for ISIL.

Peshmerga fighters managed to break the siege of Mount Sinjar in northwestern Iraq on December 18, and delivered aid to the Izadi Kurds who had been stranded in the area for months.

Peshmerga forces regained control of the Tal Afar Mountain in Iraq’s northwestern Nineveh Province from the ISIL Takfiri terrorists the following day.

At least seven villages and the strategic town of Zumar have reportedly been liberated from ISIL as part of a major offensive to open a path from the Kurdistan region to Mount Sinjar.

The two-day operation by the Kurdish fighters, which involved 8,000 troops, was the largest so far against ISIL.

The ISIL terrorists control some parts of Syria and Iraq. They are engaged in crimes against humanity in the areas under their control.